Truth & Worship; Socialism’s Rise; Angry Abortionists; the Right Words


Something happens each Sunday in worship that is incredibly beautiful and truly amazing. And sadly so often we miss it, and fail to see it. It is called transcendence. 

God comes down from heaven to meet with his people, and his people ascend to meet with Him. Heaven and earth are joined together for a time in an act of holy, solemn, joyful communion.God with us; His people with Him.

Yet so often we do not even realize what is happening, because we are not ready for it. Our minds and our hearts are not truly at rest. When we go to meet with the LORD in worship, our thoughts are often filled with cares, concerns, troubles, events, and plans for the future. We carry the burden of conflicts unresolved or ambitions unmet – the list is long.

An antidote for us is provided in Revelation 4, when John is ushered into the throne room of heaven, and he hears the words of the four living creatures who day and night never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And the 24 elders who cast their crowns before the throne say, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

To help us regain the vision for worship we’ve featured a book excerpt written by Dr. Steven Lawson (p. 24). The book is called The Moment of Truth. Divided into three parts, the last section is on worship. Lawson gets to the heart of what many of the churches and many Christians who meet together each Sunday are missing or have lost a vision for in an age of instant gratification, materialism and selfie-ism.

As socialism’s currency seems to be rising in some circles, Gerry Wisz continues his series of now three articles with his second in this issue titled “Towards an Antidote to the New Socialism.”

Norm Bomer considers the increasing hostility by abortion advocates and governments to infants, not only those still in the womb but even those who are actually born, as state laws are changed in spiteful vengence against the current President and his prolife advocacy and defense of the unborn. Canada’s lack of law on abortion and the Prime Minister’s rabid defense of all things abortion related is also noted.

Christine Farenhorst reflects on the importance of words in our every day speech and conversations. What we say and communicate both verbally and in written form bears with it responsibilities that we may not even realize, so, as the child’s song goes, “be careful little mouth what you speak.”

Hermina Dykxhoorn offers the first of two articles on a book on Korea’s more recent history from the perspective of a convert to Jesus Christ.

The magazine’s new look has stirred readers to respond, many with kind words, while some find the print more difficult to read. With your help we hope to keep improving the product. Please feel free to share you thoughts with us.

John Vandyk, Editor
Christian Renewal Magazine

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